§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many unfilled vacancies for permanent staff his Department has; what percentage of staff positions in his Department are vacant; what the monthly cost would be to his Department of employing civil servants in these positions; how many and what percentage of staff his Department employs on a temporary basis through employment agencies; how much his Department paid employment agencies to supply temporary staff in each of the last 12 months; and how much he expects to pay employment agencies to supply temporary staff in each of the next 12 months. [131426]
§ Dawn Primarolo[holding answer 25 July 2000]: On 1 April 2000 the gap between staff in post and planned demand in the Treasury was 72 around 8 per cent. of posts. The monthly cost of employing civil servants in those posts is estimated at £155k. In the week beginning 3 April 2000 there were 27 temporary agency staff in the Treasury, around 3 per cent. of the total, filling vacant posts or covering for staff in posts that were temporary vacant through maternity leave, annual leave or sickness absence. The amounts that were paid by the Treasury to supply temporary staff for each month in the Financial Year 1999–2000 are provided in the following table. The budget for payments to supply temporary staff in 2000–01 is £461,829k.
Payments by HM Treasury to employment agencies for temporary staff 1999–2000 £ April 1999 48,097.49 May 1999 50,012.29 June 1999 35,705.49 July 1999 56,455.82 August 1999 53,718.22 September 1999 30,724.74 October 1999 38,390.13 November 1999 65,374.01 December 1999 43,657.45 January 2000 62,621.93 February 2000 65,252.66 March 2000 95,497.48 Total 645,507.71